Da Vinci's drawing of a man in a circle meaning. Vitruvian Man - canonical human proportions

The Vitruvian Man is a drawing made by Leonardo Da Vinci around 1490-1492, as an illustration for a book dedicated to the works of Vitruvius. The drawing is accompanied by explanatory notes in one of his journals. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with his arms spread to the sides, describing a circle and a square.

The drawing and text are sometimes called canonical proportions. When examining the drawing, you will notice that the combination of arms and legs actually makes up four different poses. A pose with arms spread to the sides and legs not spread fits into a square (“Square of the Ancients”). On the other hand, a pose with arms and legs spread out to the sides fits into a circle. And, although, when changing poses, it seems that the center of the figure is moving, in fact, the navel of the figure, which is its real center, remains motionless.

“Vetruvio architetto mette nelle sue opera d"architettura che le misure dell"omo...”“The architect Vetruvius laid down the dimensions of man in his architecture...” Next comes a description of the relationships between various parts of the human body.

In his accompanying notes, Leonardo da Vinci indicated that the drawing was created to study the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatises of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, who wrote the following about the human body:

“Nature has ordained the following proportions in the structure of the human body:
the length of four fingers is equal to the length of the palm,
four palms are equal to a foot,
six palms make one cubit,
four cubits is the height of a person.
Four cubits are equal to a step, and twenty-four palms are equal to the height of a person.
If you spread your legs so that the distance between them is 1/14 of a person's height, and raise your arms so that your middle fingers are level with the top of your head, then the center point of your body, equidistant from all limbs, will be your navel.
The space between your spread legs and the floor forms an equilateral triangle.
The length of your outstretched arms will be equal to your height.
The distance from the roots of the hair to the tip of the chin is equal to one tenth of human height.
The distance from the top of the chest to the top of the head is 1/6 of the height.
The distance from the upper part of the chest to the roots of the hair is 1/7.
The distance from the nipples to the top of the head is exactly a quarter of the height.
The greatest width of the shoulders is an eighth of height.
The distance from the elbow to the fingertips is 1/5 of the height, from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8.
The length of the entire arm is 1/10 of the height.
The beginning of the genitals is located right in the middle of the body.
Foot - 1/7 of the height.
The distance from the toe of the foot to the kneecap is equal to a quarter of the height, and the distance from the kneecap to the beginning of the genitals is also equal to a quarter of the height.
The distance from the tip of the chin to the nose and from the roots of the hair to the eyebrows will be the same and, like the length of the ear, equal to 1/3 of the face.”

The rediscovery of the mathematical proportions of the human body in the 15th century by Leonardo Da Vinci and others was one of the great advances that preceded the Italian Renaissance. The drawing itself is often used as an implicit symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body.

Art is characterized by a desire for harmony, proportionality, and harmony. We find them in the proportions of architecture and sculpture, in the arrangement of objects and figures, the combination of colors in painting, in the alternation of rhymes and measured rhythm in poetry, in the sequence of musical sounds. These properties are not invented by people. They reflect the properties of nature itself. One of the proportions is most often found in art. It is called the "golden ratio". The golden ratio has been known since ancient times. Thus, in Book II of Euclid’s Elements, it is used in the construction of pentagons and decagons.

The term “golden ratio” was introduced by Leonardo da Vinci. If we tie a human figure - the most perfect creation of the universe - with a belt and then measure the distance from the belt to the feet, then this value will relate to the distance from the same belt to the top of the head, just as the entire height of a person relates to the length from the waist to the feet...

Indeed, in nature and the human body there are many proportional relationships close to what Leonardo da Vinci called the golden ratio. Although not exactly embodying it. By the way, the golden ratio, preferred in many cases, is not the only ratio that is visually perceived as beautiful. These include ratios such as 1:2, 1:3. They are close to the golden ratio. In any work of art, several unequal parts, but close to the golden ratio, give the impression of the development of forms, their dynamics, and proportional complement to each other. In particular, the most common relationship is based on the golden ratio when constructing monuments.

Is it possible to talk about the golden ratio in music? It is possible if you “measure” a piece of music by the time of its performance. In music, the golden ratio reflects the peculiarities of human perception of temporal proportions. The golden section point serves as a guideline for shaping (especially in short works); it often marks the climax. It can also be the brightest moment or the quietest, the densest place in texture or the highest pitch. But it also happens that at the point of the golden ratio a new musical theme appears.

Leonardo da Vinci and his Vitruavian Man

Vitruvian Man is a drawing made by Leonardo Da Vinci around 1490-1492, as an illustration for a book dedicated to the works of Vitruvius. The drawing is accompanied by explanatory notes in one of his journals. It depicts the figure of a naked man in two superimposed positions: with his arms spread to the sides, describing a circle and a square. The drawing and text are sometimes called canonical proportions.

1. Leonardo never intended to show off his Vitruvian Man.

Self-portrait. After 1512
Paper, sanguine. 33.3 × 21.6 cm
Royal Library, Turin. Wikimedia Commons

The sketch was discovered in one of the personal notebooks of the Renaissance master. In fact, Leonardo drew the sketch for his own research and did not even suspect that he would one day be admired. However, today "Vitruvian Man" is one of the artist's most famous works, along with "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa".

The drawing and its explanations are sometimes called “canonical proportions.” The drawing was done in pen, ink and watercolor using a metal pencil; the dimensions of the drawing are 24.5 × 34.3 centimeters. Currently in the collection of the Accademia Gallery in Venice. The drawing is both a work of science and a work of art, and also exemplifies Leonardo's interest in proportion.

According to Leonardo's accompanying notes, it was created to determine the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatise of the ancient architect Vitruvius On Architecture (Book III, Chapter I):

* the length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of the four fingers is equal to the length of the palm;
* the foot is four palms;
* a cubit is six palms;
* the height of a person is four cubits from the tips of the fingers (and accordingly 24 palms);
* a step is equal to four palms;
* the span of human arms is equal to his height;
* the distance from the hairline to the chin is 1/10 of its height;
* the distance from the top of the head to the chin is 1/8 of its height;
* the distance from the top of the head to the nipples is 1/4 of its height;
* maximum shoulder width is 1/4 of its height;
* the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is 1/4 of its height;
* the distance from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8 of its height;
* arm length is 2/5 of its height;
* the distance from the chin to the nose is 1/3 of the length of his face;
* the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is 1/3 of the length of his face;
* ear length 1/3 of face length;
* The navel is the center of the circle.

2. Combining art and science

Leonardo da Vinci. Vitruvian Man. 1490
Homo vitruviano
34.3 × 24.5 cm
Accademia Gallery, Venice. Wikimedia Commons

A true representative of the Renaissance, Leonardo was not only a painter, sculptor and writer, but also an inventor, architect, engineer, mathematician and anatomy expert. This ink drawing was the result of Leonardo's study of theories about human proportions described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius.

3. Leonardo wasn’t the first to try to illustrate Vitruvius’ theories.

Modern scholars believe that in the 15th century and subsequent decades there were many people who tried to express this idea in visual form.

4. Perhaps the drawing was not only made by Leonardo himself

In 2012, Italian architectural historian Claudio Sgarbi published findings that Leonardo's research into the proportions of the human body was prompted by similar research done by his friend and fellow architect Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara. It is still unclear whether they worked together. Even if this theory is incorrect, historians agree that Leonardo improved on the shortcomings of Giacomo's work.

5. Circle and square have their own hidden meaning

In their mathematical studies, Vitruvius and Leonardo described not only the proportions of man, but also the proportions of all creation. In a notebook from 1492, Leonardo's note was found: "Ancient man was the world in miniature. Since man consists of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles a microcosm of the Universe."

6. "The Vitruvian Man" is just one of many sketches

In order to improve his art and better understand how the world around him worked, Leonardo painted many people to form an idea of ideal proportions.

7. The Vitruvian Man is the ideal man

Who served as the model will remain a mystery, but art historians believe that Leonardo took some liberties in his drawing. This work was not so much a portrait as a faithful depiction of the ideal male form from a mathematical point of view.

8. It could be a self-portrait

Since there are no descriptions of the model from which this sketch was drawn, some art historians believe that Leonardo drew the “Vitruvian Man” from himself.

9. The Vitruvian Man Had a Hernia

Imperial College London surgeon Hutan Ashrafyan, 521 years after the creation of the famous drawing, established that the man depicted in the sketch had an inguinal hernia, which could lead to his death.

10. To understand the full meaning of the drawing, you need to read the notes to it

When the sketch was originally discovered in Lernardo's notebook, next to it were the artist's notes on human proportions, which read: "The architect Vitruvius states in his work on architecture that the dimensions of the human body are distributed according to the following principle: the width of 4 fingers is equal to 1 palm, foot is 4 palms, a cubit is 6 palms, the full height of a person is 4 cubits or 24 palms... Vitruvius used the same measurements in the construction of his buildings."

11. The body is drawn with measuring lines

If you look closely at the chest, arms and face of the person in the drawing, you will notice straight lines marking the proportions that Leonardo wrote about in his notes. For example, the part of the face from the bottom of the nose to the eyebrows makes up a third of the face, as does the part of the face from the bottom of the nose to the chin and from the eyebrows to the line where the hair begins to grow.

12. The sketch has other, less esoteric names

The sketch is also called the "Canon of Proportions" or "Proportions of a Man".

13. Vitruvian Man poses 16 poses at once

At first glance, you can see only two poses: a standing person with his legs together and his arms outstretched, and a standing person with his legs apart and his arms raised. But part of the genius of Leonardo's depiction is that there are 16 poses depicted simultaneously in one drawing.

14. Leonardo da Vinci's creation was used to depict modern problems

Irish artist John Quigley used the iconic image to illustrate the issue of global warming. To do this, he depicted a many times enlarged copy of the Vitruvian Man on the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

15. The original sketch rarely appears in public

Copies can be found literally everywhere, but the original is too fragile to be displayed in public. The Vitruvian Man is usually kept under lock and key in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice.

Vitruvian Man is the name given to the graphic image of a naked man in the famous sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. It has been studied for centuries. However, scientists are confident that not all the secrets of the drawing have been revealed.

Leonardo da Vinci: Vitruvian Man (Gallery Accademia, Venice, Italy)

Being one of the most mysterious and controversial figures of his era, Leonardo da Vinci left behind many secrets. Their meaning still worries scientific minds around the world. One of these mysteries is the Vitruvian Man, a pencil sketch of which has been carefully preserved for centuries. And although a lot is known about him, art experts are confident that great discoveries are yet to come.

Vitruvian Man is the official title of Leonardo's sketch. It was made by him in 1492 and was intended to illustrate a handwritten book. The drawing represents a naked man whose body is inscribed in a circle and a square. In addition, the image has duality - the human torso is depicted in two poses superimposed on each other.

As you can see by examining the drawing, the combination of hand and foot positions actually produces two different positions. The pose with arms spread to the sides and legs brought together turns out to be inscribed in a square. On the other hand, a pose with arms and legs spread out to the sides is inscribed in a circle. Upon more detailed examination, it turns out that the center of the circle is the navel of the figure, and the center of the square is the genitals.

Da Vinci's diary, for which the drawing was intended, is called the “Canon of Proportions.” The fact is that the artist believed in a certain number “phi”, calling it divine. He was confident in the presence of this number in everything created in living nature. However, da Vinci tried to achieve the “divine proportion” he derived in architecture. But this remained one of Leonardo’s unrealized ideas. But the Vitruvian Man is completely depicted in accordance with “phi”, that is, the picture shows a model of an ideal being.

According to Leonardo's accompanying notes, it was created to determine the proportions of the (male) human body, as described in the treatises of the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius; to which Leonardo wrote the following explanations:

the length from the tip of the longest to the lowest base of the four fingers is equal to the palm
the foot is four palms
a cubit is six palms
the height of a person is four cubits from the tips of the fingers (and accordingly 24 palms)
a step equals four palms
the span of human arms is equal to his height
the distance from the hairline to the chin is 1/10 of its height
the distance from the top of the head to the chin is 1/8 of its height
the distance from the top of the head to the nipples is 1/4 of its height
maximum shoulder width is 1/4 of its height
the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is 1/4 of its height
the distance from the elbow to the armpit is 1/8 of its height
arm length is 2/5 of its height
the distance from the chin to the nose is 1/3 of the length of his face
the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is 1/3 of the length of his face
Ear length 1/3 face length
the navel is the center of the circle

The rediscovery of the mathematical proportions of the human body in the 15th century by da Vinci and other scientists was one of the great advances that preceded the Italian Renaissance.

Subsequently, using the same method, Corbusier created his own scale of proportionation - Modulor, which influenced the aesthetics of 20th-century architecture.

The drawing appeared as a result of the Italian master’s study of the works of Vitruvius, the outstanding architect of Ancient Rome. In his treatises, the human body was identified with architecture. However, denying this idea, da Vinci developed the idea of combining three elements in man - art, science and the divine, that is, a reflection of the Universe.

In addition to the deep philosophical message, the Vitruvian Man also has a certain symbolic meaning. The square is interpreted as the material sphere, the circle - the spiritual. The contact of the figures with the body of the depicted person is a kind of intersection at the center of the universe.

The sketch is currently kept in the Venice Museum. There is no free access to the relic - the exhibit is exhibited extremely rarely. Those who wish have the opportunity to look at it once every six months, since moving and being in direct light is destructive for the manuscript, which is almost 500 years old. Most of the structures made according to da Vinci's sketches have survived to this day. Anyone can see ancient projects and their modern implementation in Milan, at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Science, located near the Sant'Ambrogio metro station.

Interesting Facts:

The drawing itself is often used as an implicit symbol of the internal symmetry of the human body and, further, the Universe as a whole.
In 2011, Irish aerial artist John Quigley painted a giant copy of the famous “Vitruvian Man” drawing on the ice of the Arctic Ocean in order to draw humanity’s attention to the problems of environmental balance.
In 2012, reports were published that the first visual image of the “Vitruvian Man” was not drawn by Leonardo, but by his friend Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara, who studied the works of Vitruvius in detail - although his drawing is disproportionately inferior to Leonardo’s in terms of artistic merit.

Vitruvian Man is still the subject of careful study. The image created by the genius Leonardo da Vinci contains many mysteries and raises many questions.

One of the factors influencing a person’s visual perception is certain relationships between the components of the whole. But the Vitruvian Man is not only an image of the ideal proportions of the human body. The work of the legendary Leonardo da Vinci is filled with deep philosophical, symbolic, spiritual meaning.

History of appearance

The pencil drawing was made by an Italian master while studying the works of a citizen of Rome, the architect Marcus Vitruvius. No one knows the exact date of these writings, but they usually date back to the first century BC. One of Vitruvius’ books describes in great detail the ideal proportions of the human body. However, the work does not contain any illustrations.

Before Leonardo da Vinci, many illustrators tried to translate the content of notes into images, including the great master’s friend Giacomo Andrea da Ferrara. There is documentary evidence that friends discussed the works of the Roman architect among themselves.

The Vitruvian Man, known to everyone in modern times, is very similar to Giacomo’s drawing. However, the essence of Leonardo da Vinci's work is completely different. This is not just an illustration of the text. It is both a scientific work and a work of art.

Connection of spiritual and material

One of the obvious differences between Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing and others is the position of the person, his place in the circle and square. The image contains not one, but several figures at once. Moreover, when the pose changes, the center of the drawing also shifts: it is either the center of the square (for a figure with legs together) or the center of a circle (for a person with legs and arms outstretched).

The closed legs of the figure are on the side of the square that is tangent to the circle. Researchers see in this the duality of Vitruvian man as a divine, but still earthly being, close to material reality.

Another detail of the drawing shows how the artist distinguishes between the spiritual and material principles in a person: the measuring lines refer only to the figure inscribed in the square. A person inscribed in a circle, as a divine and spiritual being, has no relation to various measures of measurement, and perhaps, according to Leonardo’s plan, cannot have.

Mysteries of the Vitruvian Man

There is a version that the creation of the drawing is related to the work of the Italian artist on the Shroud of Jesus Christ. It was at this time that she was with the brilliant master. He was engaged in the study and restoration of historical relics.

Researchers believe that the perfect proportions of Christ’s body inspired the master to embody them in the drawing. The Vitruvian Man is a depiction of the divine proportions of the human body.

The position of the male figure, its location simultaneously in the middle of the circle and in the middle of the square, suggests that for the great Leonardo, man is the center of the Universe, the image of God embodied in reality.

The Vitruvian man in modern times is perceived as a symbol of the natural symmetry of the human body and the entire Universe, material and spiritual, ideal and rational. The location of a human being simultaneously inside a circle and a square leads the viewer to an understanding of the inextricable connection between man and the Universe, between his inner (spiritual) and surrounding (material) world.

Creating works of art is impossible without observing strict ratios and proportions. They don't appear out of nowhere; nature itself creates them. Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man is one of the most striking illustrations of the laws of harmony to which the entire Universe obeys.

15 Little-Known Facts About Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man

1. Leonardo never intended to show off his Vitruvian Man.

The sketch was discovered in one of the personal notebooks of the Renaissance master. In fact, Leonardo drew the sketch for his own research and did not even suspect that he would one day be admired. However, today The Vitruvian Man is one of the artist's most famous works, along with The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa.

2. Combining art and science

3. Leonardo wasn’t the first to try to illustrate Vitruvius’ theories.

Modern scholars believe that in the 15th century and subsequent decades there were many people who tried to express this idea in visual form.

4. Perhaps the drawing was not only made by Leonardo himself

5. Circle and square have their own hidden meaning

In their mathematical studies, Vitruvius and Leonardo described not only the proportions of man, but also the proportions of all creation. Leonardo wrote in a notebook from 1492: “Ancient man was the world in miniature. Since man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, his body resembles a microcosm of the Universe.”

6. “The Vitruvian Man” is just one of many sketches

In order to improve his art and better understand how the world around him worked, Leonardo painted many people to form an idea of ideal proportions.

7. Vitruvian Man - the ideal man

8. It could be a self-portrait

Since there are no descriptions of the model from which this sketch was drawn, some art historians believe that Leonardo drew the “Vitruvian Man” from himself.

9. The Vitruvian Man Had a Hernia

10. To understand the full meaning of the drawing, you need to read the notes to it

When the sketch was originally discovered in Lernardo's notebook, next to it were the artist's notes regarding human proportions, which read: “The architect Vitruvius states in his work on architecture that the dimensions of the human body are distributed according to the following principle: the width of 4 fingers is equal to 1 palm, foot is 4 palms, a cubit is 6 palms, the full height of a person is 4 cubits or 24 palms... Vitruvius used the same measurements in the construction of his buildings.”

11. The body is drawn with measuring lines

12. The sketch has other, less esoteric names

The sketch is also called the “Canon of Proportions” or “Proportions of a Man.”

13. Vitruvian Man poses 16 poses at once

14. Leonardo da Vinci's creation was used to depict modern problems

Irish artist John Quigley used the iconic image to illustrate the issue of global warming. To do this, he depicted a many times enlarged copy of the Vitruvian Man on the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

15. The original sketch rarely appears in public

Copies can be found literally everywhere, but the original is too fragile to be displayed in public. The Vitruvian Man is kept under lock and key in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice.